Fruit-packing machine



A. BABB AND E. B. HARRIS.

FRUIT PACKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION HL'ED FEB. 14. 1921.

Patented Apr. 18, 1922.

6 SHEETS-SHEET l- INV EN TORS. E.B; Harris.

Ailene Babb.

A. BABB AND E. B. HARRIS. mun PACKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 14, [\92]. 1,412,991, Patented Apr. 18, 1922.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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By Ailene "Babb.

A. BABB AND E. B. HARRIS.

FRUIT PACKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 1:11.14, 1921.

1,412,991. d pr- 18, 1922.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

( Floor.

INVENTORS. E.B.Harris. Ailene Babb. 1

A. BABB AND E. B. HARRIS.

FRUIT PACKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14. I92!- Patented Apr. 18, 1922.

a sums-swear 4- ENTORS. E. 8. Harris. Ailene Babb.

A. BABB AND E. B. HARRIS.

FRUIT PACKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED rzs.14. 1921.

1,412,991. Patented Apr. 18, 1922.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

INVENTORS; E. B. Harms.

Ai Iene B abb.

A. BABB AND E. B. HARRIS.

FRUIT PACKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14, 1921.

1,412,991. ate e pr.v 18, 1922.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

INVENTORQ. E.B. Harms.

Ailene Babb.

ings, in whichuarran stares FATENT @ZFFICE.

AILENE BABB AND EDWARD B. HARRIS, OF HILLSBORQOREGON. V

FRUIT-PACKING MACHINE.

Application filed February 14, 1921. Serial No. 444,757.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that we, AILENE BABE and EDWARD B. HARRIS, both citizens ofthe United States, residing at Hillsboro, in the county of Washingtonand State of Oregon, have invented a new and useful Fruit-PackingMachine, of which the fol-v apples, oranges lemons, pears, andsimilarfruits.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the description givenhereinafter.

We attain these objects with the mechanism illustrated in theaccompanying draw- Fig. I is aperspective view ofthe entire machine asseen from the rear end, 1. e. that end from which the wrapping paper andthe. empty boxes are supplied.

Fig. II is alplan viewiof the table to show the relative position of thepaper carrying chains, the wrapping paper, the paper knife, and thegrader chute.

Fig. III is a front elevation of themachine.

Fig. IV is a right hand elevation to an observer standing at the frontof the machine and lookin toward the rear.

Fig. V is a left hand elevation.

Fig. VI is a detail of the mechanism which packs the fruit into the box,the section being taken along the line A-A, in Fig. II.

Fig. VII is a perspective view of the slide which shifts the wrappedfruit from one piston to the other.

Fig. VIII is a perspective view of the chain links which convey thewrapping paper across the table.

Fig. IX is the section through F ig. III along the line 15- 8 mainly toshow the two box shifting frames in plan view.

ig. X is a detail of the pawl arrangement which gives the intermittenthorizontal motion to the frames shown in Fig. IX.

Fig. XI is a section through the frames along the line C-C in Fig. IX.

Fig. XII is a section through the frames alon the line D-D in Fig. IX.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

. A table 1 rests on suitable supports 2, to which latter also a largepart of the mechanism underneath the table is attached. 1X roll ofwrapping paper 3, located at the rear end of the table, unwinds over anauxiliary roller 4. The edges of the strip of paper are caught by theclips 5of the paper carrying chains 6 and led over the surface of thetable 1. A knife -7 descends at regular intervals to sever the.forwardend of the paper just at themoment when thepaper has arrived overthe opening 8,

(Fig. VI) in the table. Simultaneously the fruit rolls down from thegrader chute 9, and a piston 10 descends, pressing the fruit through theopening into a tunnel 11 under the table, and thereby automaticallyclosing' the paper around the fruit at the bottom" and sides. A bellshaped piston 10 is employed, partly to cause less injury to the fruit,and partlyffor reasons which will be explained later.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr, 18, 1922, v

. The fruithavin arrived in the tunnel is taken hold of by a slidingframe 11 and pulled over to one side where another piston 12 descendsand presses the fruit through a tube 13 into a box 14. Moving the fruitin the tunnel away from thepiston 10 leaves'the latter freeto ascend andclear the way for, a new strip of paper, moreover this lateral motioncauses one side of the created paper tube to foldover the top of thefruit and thus to cover the latter completely. The lower end of the tube13 should terminate high enough above the de-' posited fruit to permitthe box to'slide horizonta-lly without interference between thedeposited fruit and the tube.

Our next consideration is directed to the mechanism which imparts to thebox 14' a lateral motion in horizontal direction and permits the fruitto be placed side by side. For this purpose the box 14: is surrounded byfairly close fitting frame 15, with a pusher bar 16 projecting towardthe left-hand side of the machine. This bar is engaged at one end by abell-crank 17, the other endof which is actuated by a hook 18' attachedto .the ratchet bar when the other pawl is lifted clear off the teeth ofthe ratchet bar.

The lever 21 being fulcrumed at 21 to the support 2 (see also Fig. V),an oscillatory motion is produced, first in one direction by a timingrod 23 which is actuated by a suitable timing gear 24 on the main shaft25, and then in the opposite direction by a tension spring 26.

As soon as one pawl has shifted the ratchet bar to the end. of itstravel a hump 27- will lift this pawl clear off the teeth andautomatically force the companion pawl to engage the teeth at the otherside of the ratchet bar 19. Since these teeth point in the op positedirection the ratchet bar must travel ackward to its original positionand thereby carry through the intervention .of bell cranlgarm, andframe, the box 14 within the frame 15 back to the left-hand side.

However, before the box starts its return journey a pawl and ratchetarrangement similar to the one described enters into action; the same isplaced on the right-hand side asshown in Fig. IV. Again the pawl lever28 with pawls '28, is osciliatingly secured to the supporting fra1ne2,while the ratchetbar 29 in this case isaiiixeddirectly to the largeframe 80 which encloses thesmall frame 15 and therefore will shift thebox corresponding distance forward or backward as the case may be. Atiming rod 31 at. the pawl lever 28, operated by a timing gear 32 on themain shaft, produces the motion in one direction, and'the tension spring38 takes care of the motion in opposite direction. The timing gear 32should be properly timed to make one motion after the timing gear on theleft-hand side has shifted the-box laterally into the last position.

To lower the box automatically, in order to place one layer of fruits ontop of the other, the platform 34 on which the box rests is provided onboth sides with upwardly extending ratchet bars 35, which are suspendedfrom the pawls 36, insuch a manner that, when-one pawl is released, theopposite pawl on the same ratchet bar is ready to engage a tooth. Thepawls 86, must necessarily be afiixed to the supporting frame 2, and beset in operation by the pins 36 when the box has arrived at the end ofits travel in forward or backward direction. 7 After the platform 34 hasreached its lowest position, that is, after the last layer of fruithasbeen deposited, the box has dropped below the embrace of theframes 15and 30, and a carrier chain 37 is set in motion. T he prongs 38 of thecarrier chain shift the full box out of the way onto a nailing platform(not shown) and simultaneously place an empty box in its place. Theempty boxes are placed in position on a plank 39, by a timing devicewhich however at present may be omitted from consideration.

The next step is to elevate the platform 34 with its box 14 to beginagain with'the deposition of the bottom layer of fruit. For this purposetoggles 40, (Figs. 1, IV, and V) are provided between platform andfloor, said toggles being joined by a timing bar 41, which again isoperated by a suitable timing gear 41, so that at the proper moment thetoggles will straighten out and lift platform and box to the requisiteheight whereupon the previously described sequence of operation maybegin anew.

The general principle of our machine has thus been stated.

It remains to revert to some details which have been shown in thedrawingbut not touched upon heretofore; A small bench 42 on the table 1serves asa support for the lower end of the grader chute 9 and mustnaturally be provided with a hole 43 through which the fruit may dropdown to the paper underneath. A clutch lever 44 is mountedoscillat-orily over this bench to swing forward. when no fruit is comingdown the chute. A slot 45 at one side of the bellshaped piston 10 leavessuiiicient freedom for the lever to swing forward until it comes to astop at the lower'opposite edge of the piston. The. clutch lever 44maybe supported on thetable 1 in any suitable manner, butshould have anarm 45 hanging down over the edge of the table (see Fig. IV). From thelowerend-of the arm 45" reaches a link 46 to the lever 47, and thelatter actuates a suitable clutch 48 on the mainfshaft 25. A forwardoscillation of the lever 44 d sengages the clutch 48 and sets the entiremachine at rest until the next fruit runs down the grader chute 9,presses the lever 44 aside and starts the machine going again. To givethe paper knife 7 a snappy up and down motion, a shaft 49 at theleft-hand side of the machine (Figs. I and V) is driven by suitablegears 50 from the main shaft 25, and on tne shaft is mounted a spiralspring 51 which is put under tension by the rotation of the shaft. Thistension exerts itself on the knocker arm 52"whenever the same isreleased. This arm in flying around the shaft knocks against a hook 53hanging down from the handle of the paper knife 7 and forces the knifedown. Disengaging itself from the hook, the arm'flies further around theshaft back into a vertical position, while the paper knife is just asquickly pressed upward by a compression spring 54.

frame 11, and the crank 57 which open:

ates the piston 12. At the right hand side of the machine the shaft 58,which contains the crank '59 for the bell-shaped piston 1O,

is also driven by the main shaft, as in fact every other operation inthis machine is governed from the main shaft through the interpositionofsuitable timing gears and counter shafts.

Figs. IX and XII show the pusher bar 16 in the frame 15 working in aslot 60. The necessity for this arrangement will be clear when itisunderstood that the small frame 15, besides having its own motion inlateral direction, must also be able to slide backward and forwardtogether with the large frame 30 while the bar 16 itself stays with inthe reach of the bell crank 17.

In Fig. X is illustrated the provision for keeping a particular pawl inengagement with the corresponding ratchet teeth throughout the wholetravel of the ratchet bar. The pivot 61 holding each pawl is flattenedon one side, with a spring piston 62 pressing against the flattenedside. On a comparatively slight motion of the pawl the spring pistonwill persist in returning to the flattened side of the pivot, a largemotion of the pawl, however, will shove the spring piston 62 entirelyoff the flattened surface and set the companion pawl to work instead.

The vertical rod 63 at the left-hand side near the front (Figs. I, III,and V,) which projects the fingers 64 into the path of the platform 34:,is connected with a clutch 65 whereby, through the chain drive 66, thetiming gear 41 is automatically set in motion whenever the platform 34has reached the lowest position, and is automatically stopped onreaching the limit of its elevation.

How the paper carrying chains 6 are driven by bevel gears 67 from themain shaft 25 is plainly illustrated in Fig. III.

The same size of box is always used to pack a small number of largefruits or a large number of small fruits. Our machine can be adapted toall the different packs by a mere changing of the various timing gears.

There are some details of construction which will yet requireconsiderable experimentation and study in order to obtain the bestresults, but the general principle of our machine has herewith beenfully stated and we reserve to ourselves the right to make such changesin construction as will not violate the spirit and principle of ourinvention.

We claim:

1. In a fruit packing machine, the combination'of a gravity graderchute, with mechanism to automatically wrap paper around a fruit, meansto deposit it in layers in a box,

means to automatically remove the full box,

and means to substitute an empty box.

2. In a fruit packing machine. the combination of a gravity graderchute, with a mechanism to automatically. wrap paper around the bottomand sides of the fruit, said mechanism comprising a supporting stand, atable, a bench on the table, registering openings in'bench and table, apaper-cutting knife rearwardly of the bench, paper carrying chainsacross the table, a bellshaped piston descending on the fruit andwrapping the paper around the bottom and sides of the fruit by pressingthe same through the opening in the I table, with mechanisms to pack thefruit in layers in a box, means to remove the full box, and tosubstitute an empty box.

3. In a fruit packing machine, the combination of a gravity grader chutemeans to automatically wrap the fruit from the grader chute in paper,with means to automatically deposit the same in a box, said meanscomprising a supporting stand, a table, a tunnel under the table, a tubedepending from the tunnel, a horizontal frame reciprocating at thelongitudinal axis of the tunnel, with a piston descending through thetable, traversing the tunnel and frame and moving the full length of thedepending I 4. In a fruit packing machine, the combination of means toautomatically wrap fruit in paper, and means to deposit the same in abox, with means to impart an intermittent horizontal motion to the box,said means comprising a supporting stand, a platform within the stand, asmall box-enclosing frame .mounted at a permanent height above theplatform, a pawl and ratchet mechanism to send the small frame from oneside of the supporting stand to the other, alarge frame supporting thesmall frame slidably, and a pawl and ratchet mechanism to send the largeframe with the enclosed small frame from one end of the supporting standto the other, mechanism to impart an intermittent vertical motion to thebox, and mechanism to remove a full box and substitute an empty one.

5. In a fruit packing machine, the combination of means to automaticallywrap fruit, and means to deposit the same in a box, with means to impartan intermittent vertical motion to the box, said means comprising asupporting stand, a platform within the stand, ratchet bars projectingupward from the platform, pawls attached to the stand and alternatelyengaging the teeth of the ratchet bars, toggles between the plat-- formand the floor to raise the platform, and mechanism to remove the fullbox and sub stitute an empty one.

6. In a fruit packing machine, the combination of means to automaticallywrap paper around fruit, means to deposit thesame in a box, withmechanism to remove the full box and substitute an empty one, saidmechanism comprising, a supporting stand, a box-supporting platformWithin the stand, a box-supporting plank outside the stand in'horizontalalinement with the platform, and a carrier chain with prongs projectingabove the plank, and moving from one end of said plank to the other.

Signed by us at Portland, Oregon this 10 7th day of February, 1921. I VI AILENE BARB} EDWARD B. HARRIS.

